The 2018 edition of the transparency index prepared by the professional and financial services consulting company JLL, specialized in the real estate sector, has raised Spain's rating. Spain now stands at number 19 in the Global Real Estate Transparency Index 2018.

This is a good position, and means that Spain forms part of the group of countries that are considered transparent. These are countries that have a solid regulatory framework and good governance, although they still need to improve some aspects relating to the availability of the market data.

According to Elsa Galindo, head of research at JLL, the rise in Spain's position is due –among other aspects– to its improvement in adopting technology proposals in both the private and the public sphere. “In Spain we are taking note of all these changes and the business sector is clearly committed to incorporating cutting-edge technologies into their daily operations”, she says. “If we analyze their activity in recent years, the real estate sector has generally significantly improved its transparency, and we can expect it to continue doing so in the coming years thanks to the intensive use of new technologies and an efficient management of the available information.”

A key aspect
According to this year's report, transparency is no longer simply an added value but is essential to this sector. It also notes that thanks to the development of technology, it is becoming easier to obtain greater knowledge and control of the information available on the market.

The new applications available for the real estate sector will help improve transparency in markets such as China, United Arab Emirates (Dubai), Mexico and Brazil. Among the determining factors for the entry of the Netherlands in the ten most transparent countries are innovations such as the digitization of records and the first experiences with blockchain.

Technology and legislation
Companies and citizens are also behind the increased demand for transparency according to the report, because they are concerned by security and the control of their data. Sweden is another country that has risen in the ranking thanks to major improvements in the use of technology and in its current legislation, whereas the United Kingdom confirms its leadership at the European level as the most transparent country.

The 2018 edition of the Global Real Estate Transparency Index studied 100 countries and 158 cities to rate their level of transparency according to 186 variables that measure aspects such as sustainability, the information available on the market and the current legislation.

http://www.jll.com/greti/rankings